


not every wave is a tidal wave

by bookishpanda



Series: Sanders Sides Shorts [29]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Ocean, Seafarers, captain Logan - Freeform, first mate Remus, mentions of sea storms, mentions of what lies at the bottom of the ocean, ocean captain, platonic intrulogical - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:19:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28741626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookishpanda/pseuds/bookishpanda
Summary: Logan is a sea captain… but he has a bit of a fear of what lies at the bottom of the ocean. At times, Logan is unsure of his choice in First Mate, but Remus proves that he was the correct choice.
Series: Sanders Sides Shorts [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2067366
Kudos: 22





	not every wave is a tidal wave

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a piece of art by Cat from discord!!  
> Title inspired by the song Tidal Wave by The Mountain Goats.

Logan peered out at the waves rolling beneath the ship, and, for once, he let his mind wander. Sailing was peaceful (most of the time): the soft spray of ocean mist, the sound of the waves below and gulls above. When his crew wasn’t shouting over sail positions and trajectories, Logan found himself leaning against the railings, eyes focused on nothing but on everything — the horizon, the sun shining off of the sea… all of it. 

As a child, Logan was sickly, and spent all of his time indoors, reading about pirates sailing on the open water, going on adventures, battling for treasure. And now as an adult, he spent all of his days on the water, seeking that same thrill that he felt every time he embarked on a journey with one of his books. 

Books never told him how messy and uncomfortable life could be out at sea. They romanticized every aspect of sailing, a harsh reality that Logan had to confront once he became Captain of his father’s ship,  _ Curiosi-Sea _ . It was a name that Logan absolutely despised, but his father’s final wish was for the ship’s name to remain. And so, Logan kept the name. Spitefully. He was a serious captain, not silly like his pet-loving, pun-making father. And he made sure that his crew knew that he was serious; almost every single one believed this. 

Except for one. Remus was a strong-bodied and even stronger-willed crewmate who quickly proved himself to be worthy of being Logan’s First Mate. But compared to Logan’s neat appearance even on the roughest days at sea, Remus wore torn shirts and pants, his curls framing his face in an unprofessional light. And the comments that Remus would make… they made Logan shudder to remember. 

And it was at that moment, that meditative moment in the early morning light, when Remus decided to rear his head once again, throwing Logan for a loop. The captain barely registered the footsteps thundering behind him, and so he jumped when a hand clapped onto his back. 

“Morning, Cap! Hey, what’s with the long face?” Remus mused, leaning against the railing, a smirk toying beneath his mustache. Logan had to constantly bite back the suggestion that Remus trim or remove the mustache, because he knew that the first mate loved it; it separated him from his twin brother, who had remained on land to become a successful businessman. “Thinking about the name of the ship again, are we?” Logan blinked at the man; how could he perceive him so well? It was like Remus knew the ins and outs of Logan’s every move, and it was absolutely startling.

“What? No,” Logan lied, eyes returning to the spot on the horizon that he had focused on before being rudely interrupted. “Get the men up, we need to weigh anchor and get moving before the next storm hits.”

“Yessir!” Remus mocked, his hand flying up in a parodied salute before spinning on his heel, his footsteps slowly fading away, leaving Logan alone with the sea once again.

-

The rain battered against the window of Logan’s quarters, the flickering candlelight beside him the only thing keeping him awake to read one of his old battered novels. They had escaped from the brunt of the storm in time, but the rain and thunder still howled outside, his men safely tucked away in their cots. 

Still, Logan couldn’t bear to sleep; not on a night like that, when there was sure to be flooding on deck the following day. There were plans to be made, and their next move to be planned, but Logan couldn’t allow himself to touch those things; he needed the comfort of one of his childhood books, the worn spine and dog eared pages reminding him of a time when his thin fingers would turn the pages so quickly they tore, all because he strove to know what would happen next in the story. 

There was a banging out on the deck, and before Logan could even set his book down to go investigate, the door to his cabin swung open, revealing a frantically smiling, soaking Remus. Logan let his book fall to the table as he stood, grabbing some material from his linen closet to throw over the man.

“What in the world are you doing, Remus?” He demanded, trying to force his worry down his throat in favor of sounding more stern (though he was sure his eyes, despite hiding behind glasses frames, would give him away). “You could have been thrown off deck with no one to notice.”

“Oh, it’s fine, I had a rope tied around my waist in case that happened,” Remus laughed, carding one of his hands through his sopping hair. “You should have joined me, Cap. Dancing in the rain brings a lot of joy to one’s soul.” Logan couldn’t stop the hasty breath that pushed out of his nose in disbelief at this. 

“I don’t dance, Remus,” he said simply, leading Remus to sit in one of the chairs at the table. Once the first mate was seated, Logan sat back down where he was previously, but his eyes were still trained on his friend. “Pretty late in the night for a dance, is it not?”

“It’s pretty late to be up reading an adventure novel, and yet, here you are,” Remus bit back, but his tongue stuck out between his teeth, showing that he was teasing his Captain. “Rumor has it that you’re afraid of the bottom of the ocean, Logan. Are you afraid that a squid might eat you?” Logan blinked, briefly wondering which of the older crew, which of the men that had previously served with his father, let this information slip. He cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses.

“I can assure you that those claims are false,” he said quickly, but Remus narrowed his eyes at the man, then nodded. Logan was grateful that, for once, the man didn’t press the subject any further. “I thought I would read a bit before charting our next course of action. We need to dock somewhere within the next week to refill supplies.”

“You should rest,” Remus finally said, his eyes landing on the perfectly made bed. When  _ was _ the last time Logan had slept in his bed and not at his desk? “If we’re meant to dock within the next week, we might be running some late nights between now and then.”

“I can’t-”

“Because of the storm?” Remus asked. Logan looked down at his hands; they were dry from the consistent dampness of the ocean air, but then he nodded. 

“I’m not as strong as my father was,” Logan admitted, his eyes trailing to the portrait hanging on the wall. His father was the strongest person he had ever known, despite the puns and silliness, he put his crew and family first. Logan could remember being brought onto the ship for the first time in his adolescence, and how proud Patton had been to show off his son who could read books, his son who would make an amazing captain someday. And yet… Logan was sure that he could never live up to his father’s shadow.

“You don’t  _ need _ to be as strong as he was,” Remus said, pulling Logan free of his memories. He blinked up at his first mate, who was drying off gradually, but had a serious look on his face, an unusual sight. “That’s why you have a crew, and a first mate. You’re exactly the kind of captain that  _ you _ need to be, not the kind of captain that your father was.” Logan sighed, but nodded, knowing that Remus was right. Logan had let his own insecurities wash over him instead of allowing himself to feel emotions. His father was the most emotional man he’d ever met, and yet he was still fully capable of being a great captain. “Get some rest, Logan. I’ll stay here with you tonight.”

And Logan listened. He shed his overcoat and set his glasses on the desk, then burrowed himself underneath the blankets of his bed. He barely registered Remus changing out of his damp clothes, blowing out the last candlelight, and climbing into bed behind the captain, holding him to protect him from the nightmares of dark ocean abysses and squids eating him alive.

Remus was a great first mate, but he was an even better best friend.


End file.
